Of Fathers and Fairly Godfathers
by Maura Maud Jadeit
Summary: 'Your son is working towards mastery in passive-aggressive art of manipulation, drives hard bargains and he also needs to cut off watching Fairly Godparents.' Aaron visits Fairly Godparents in the Haunted House and gets more than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1: Of Parks

**Title: **Of Fathers and Fairly Godfathers

**Warnings: **Spoilers up to 7x10 Bittersweet Science. In overall heavy spoilers

**Pairings:** For this part no explicit ones. Hotch's and Beth's companionship I guess. Referenced PD of... something with Reid/OC. Very strong comradeship between Reid and Jack.

**Summary:** _I make a living out of interpreting human behavior, I have a PhD in behavioral psychology, I can profile disorganized psychopath almost in my sleep and under my very nose my son... _Hotch learns the extent of Jack's ability to form friends and Reid's ability to stuff more than one skeleton into the closet and Aaron makes a conscious decision to open that door.

**Word count**: About 6000

**DISCLAIMER**: The Mark Gordon Company, ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television own Criminal Minds. I just took them out to play and I promise to put them back when I'm done.

**Semi-necessary Author's Note** (heavily encouraged to be read before proceeding with reading the story): I'm a big fan of very strong relationship between Hotch and Reid, be it friendship or romantic relationship, I like both and I like writing both. This particular story is the first case. Secondly... **Secondly**, I happened to like all of Bittersweet Science, I liked Beth and though my shipping heart has other opinion's I believe that Hotch deserves to be happy with whomever he wants and chooses. **Thirdly**, in here the relationship which Hotch and Beth have is not a full-blown romance, more like mutually enjoyed companionship and even though the perspective of the chapter lies with Hotch and Beth having a conversation and observing certain events the main focus of the story is Hotch and Reid's friendship, past and present. **Fourthly**, it's a chapter of a longer story, try to keep that in mind, and a story that explores and tries to justify certain actions or lack of thereof. **Fifthly**, that's what happens when I get through serious CM withdrawal, worsened by RL issues and RL induced technical hiatus which lead me to losing a fair lot of other ideas and rendered me computerless for three months. **Sixthly**, it's fiction, and I had chosen this particular settings for a reason to explore certain aspects of the relationship between Stormy Bossman and Boy Wonder, other relationships are secondary, referenced in passing and not overly 'in your face' (at the very least I try to keep them us such). Enough of a babble, let's proceed with the story.

_Feedback_ _is welcomed with open arms._

* * *

><p><em>My aunts and <span>uncles<span> are one of a kind,_

_A little goofy but are quite a great find._

_They like to play the same silly games,_

_And are always calling me strange little names._

_They love to hug and kiss, tickle and squeeze,_

_And sometimes I even bounce on their knees._

_I like it so much I can't help but grin,_

_I know its their hearts I'll surely win._

_Bernadette Redmond_

Aaron leaned against the back of the bench and sighed before he took a long sip of his coffee. He was exhausted but in a good way and he didn't mind the non-oppressive silence of his companion.

"Can you move?" Beth asked with an exhausted smile.

"A little," he admitted with a small smile. "Ask me again in twenty minutes, I'm still recuperating from the chase with Race Across the America participant."

"It was a good chase," Beth said.

"I know that, logically, but my pride begs to differ," Aaron sighed.

"You can tell your pride that you aren't covering the distance between DC and Baltimore on a bike twice a day," Beth offered. "And twenty minutes of a chase is still something considering how little time you have to train."

"Okay but I still think that my pride looks like this," Aaron jutted his chin at the bum that spreed on a bench twenty feet away from them. "Well, minus Johnny Walker and fleas."

"Ah, the Enchanter," Beth smiled. "Amazing Enchanter and his Barking Troupe. Dad always managed to get a new story out of him whenever they'd meet or from Doris the Pigeon Lady we passed on the way."

"She greeted you," Aaron agreed. "Like an old time acquaintance."

"In a way I am," Beth said softly. "I grew up not too far away from here and I always had to pass this park on my way from school, my dad always waited for me here with a bag of caramels and we sat on one of the benches, talking about work and school, observing passing people, talking about them or listening to Enchanter's or Doris's or Old Man McCarthy's stories."

"What he did for a living if you don't mind asking?" Aaron asked curiously.

"I don't," Beth smiled. "He used to work for Metro PD when I was small and later on as a private investigator."

"Explains a lot," Aaron nodded.

"Daddy's little girl," Beth agreed. "Even after he retired he always spend an hour or two here gathering stories and observing people. He told my mum that he was writing a book and in a way he was though I don't think that he wanted to publish it but I guess that he would grudgingly accept eventual publishing."

"You are planning to publish them," Aaron said.

"I already did," Beth admitted. "It's a small publication and I'm not hoping for financial merit of it, well one higher than the savings I put into publishing which would be nice and it would make mum stop complaining that instead of investing in a car or investing into anything really I washed three years of savings down the drain."

"Mothers worry," Aaron pointed out.

"I know, that's why as much as sometimes I want to tell her that I saved those money and I can do with them whatever I please, I keep my mouth shut. But I saw her reading the book when I was visiting this week even if she was doing her best to hide it," she said.

"What's the title?" Aaron asked curiously.

"You don't have to do it," Beth rolled her eyes.

"You can tell me now or have me reading it next week while I will be waiting for you at the cafe, your choice," Aaron smiled.

"Does the bureau likes having their agents spending their resources on searching for a small publication?" Beth asked cheekily.

"The bureau has coffee breaks and I wouldn't be spending their resources, well not literal resources, though some people would disagree... but I work with a guy who never meet a book he didn't like and if I will express my wish to read it quite likely answer I would get would be 'I read it last Saturday' or 'I have it with me'," Aaron said dryly.

"Impossible," Beth shook her head. "It went into sales today, into just four bookstores in DC, happens to be 600 pages long in tiny print and your guy would have will have to devote whole day to read it."

"Assuming that average number of words per page is 250 then 600 pages gives us about 150 000 words... No, that's a typical publisher font size." Aaron frowned. "In published works the number of words per page would rate from between 250 words per page to even a 1000 words per page in academic textbooks. Average number of words per page in nonacademic publications rates around 400 words per page. Given that ratio 600 pages means average number of 240 000 words in the entire book which means that I would have read it in two hours."

"2000 words per minute? Dazzling speed-read," Beth said pensively. "I'm proud from my hard-pressed 1000 words per minute with 75 % recovery."

"Byproduct of bureaucracy," Aaron shrugged.

"How high recovery?" Beth asked curiously.

"74%," Aaron grimaced. "Coached."

"Impressive," Beth said simply. "The highest result ever recorded is like 4700 words per minute with 67% comprehension?"

"Officially," Aaron agreed.

"And unofficially?" Beth asked.

"Once I witnessed very hard-pressed 30 000 words per minute and heard 'great you berks, now one of you will drive me home because thanks to you I have a mother of all migraines, challenge me into speed-reading contest again and I will shot you in the foot'," Aaron answered.

"What was the recovery?" Beth asked skeptically.

"100%," Aaron answered. "But the boys tweaked the rules so it was an actual book and a timer and the contestant firmly refused acknowledging that result because according to him he was duped on that bet and ended with a migraine which whole unit felt for following week or even two."

He smiled at the memory of Reid returning all files that had been dropped on him in past few days to their rightful owners with harsh notes stapled inside them to inform his colleagues that it was the highest time for them to '_Do your own goddamn work you are supposedly being paid for!_'. What was the most funniest about the incident itself that majority of agents that dropped their files on Reid took Reid finishing the cases for granted and Aaron personally counted seventeen cases that were dropped on Reid and turned over to Aaron unchecked by his teammates. More so, he dared to blush furiously when he found the file he himself dropped on Reid with the note stapled to it that claimed '_Do you want me to ask you for a raise in public and have me list the reasons why?_' Least to say from that day on **all** agents that dropped their consults on Reid always checked if he really finished them and Aaron himself always asked Reid beforehand if he had to drop his own consult on Reid, not that it happened often but still.

"Happy memory?" Beth asked curiously.

"A fond one, yes," Aaron nodded with a smile. "A coworker of mine asserting himself in a very unique way that taught the whole unit the lesson to not dupe other colleagues unless they wanted to feel very painful and embarrassing retribution."

"Pride was the casualty?" Beth asked with small smile.

"A major one," Aaron agreed with a smile. "I believe that they called it: God's wrath."

"Sacrificed virgin worked the trick?" Beth joked.

"Bag of Kopi Luwac did," Aaron said. "We threw a basket of Belgian chocolates and English-Hebrew dictionary into the mix and we were graciously forgiven."

"30 000 words per minute with 100% recovery?" Beth asked. "How that works?"

"Depends whom you ask and when. On a really bad day the source itself retorted '_Maybe I was born with it or maybe it's Maybeline_' and on a better one gave me a dissertation on why I write with my left hand but hold a gun like right-handed person. It boils to nature and nurture. I was born left-handed but I was peer-pressured by the society to develop ambidexterity and later on I was the only left-handed person in the training group with a grumpy for a trainer who said '_either figure it out on your own rookie or do like others do_' and because figuring it out on my own nearly cost me a dislocated finger for the duration of the training I did like others did. Pure behaviorism."

"And because it was working for you either way you didn't feel the need to change it," Beth nodded. "Neither did the speed-reader. But if 30 000 words per minute even with 100% memory recovery leads to a migraine what doesn't.?" she asked curiously.

"20 000 words per minute also has a 100% memory recovery and happens to be non-headache inducing speed. Naturally he can read slower than that if he will pressure himself because once in return for 30 000 words per minute dupe he allowed our colleagues to get him into speed-reading contest, official one mind you. I tried to talk him out of it and all I got was cryptic '_I'm from Vegas_'. So on the day of the contest I followed the three of them and saw how 20 000 words per minute with 100% memory recovery drops to 2000 words per minute with 56% memory recovery in a well-deserved payback."

"Sounds like money were on the line," Beth said pensively.

"They were," Aaron agreed. "Apparently each of the two put five hundred on the line that Vegas would score a result of 10 000 words per minute or higher and he found out about the bet, bet that they would lost and through an acquaintance of his he bet a tenner that he would achieve 2000 words per minute with 56% memory recovery. According to him I couldn't really mind a lesson in self-preservation."

"House rules," Beth smiled.

"That too," Aaron smiled.

"Vegas sounds like a Professor my dad described in his stories," Beth admitted. "That's what his stories are about, people he saw in the park and wondering what makes them whom they are. Dad always describes him with his bottomless bag of books and ever present traveling mug."

"Tall, slightly scrawny, brown hair, brown eyes, wears cardigans, sometimes with old-school glasses and purple scarf, the bag is an old-school one, yellowish-beige in color?" Aaron asked pensively.

"As if you read a description of him," Beth nodded and she tapped her chin before she said, "Vegas is the Professor."

"Sounds like it," Aaron smirked. "It doesn't really surprise me because he lived in the area for a while and at the very least once he and your father would have to cross paths."

"Never spoke thought," Beth said. "All right. Coffee-cups and Fallen Leaves."

Aaron smirked.

"Did someone ever told you that you can cow people in submission?" Beth asked with a smile.

"Repeatedly," Aaron nodded with a smile."For most of the time the one who turned passive manipulation into work of art and still has people falling for that after all those years. That he does it to suspects is not a problem, it's part of the job and he is successful so bless him, but I'm waiting for the day when his colleagues will realize how many times he managed to cow them into submission."

"Why you didn't tell them?" Beth asked curiously.

"I'm waiting for them to realize that he isn't as socially inept as he presents himself to be, even if he was when he started working with us people do have a learning curve and he is no different," Aaron smirked.

"Vegas," Beth nodded.

"Vegas," Aaron agreed. "That's why I don't bet against him. I'm one of the few that come the closest to deciphering how much of his image is him being himself and how much of it happens to be pure acting and he still manages to confuse me at times."

"You trained him," Beth said pensively. "Dad always spoke of the unique bond that for most of the time forms between trainer and trainee. He held his first partner in very high regard and all of his trainees held him in high regard too."

"Vegas is peculiar," Aaron admitted.

"That's what dad said about all of his trainees," Beth smiled.

"And according to my trainer so was I," Aaron smiled back. "Never-ending circle of life," he sighed.

"I think that he is coming around," Beth said suddenly. "Another usual description from dad's book. Either alone or with various women and children. This time is the other."

"Most probably out on a walk with his godson," Aaron nodded as he followed Beth's line of vision to the curve in the alley.

"I counted eight kids," Beth said.

And there were eight of them. More surprisingly four of them Aaron never saw before and the other four weren't supposed to be around Reid.

Trish, Mike's daughter was easily recognizable and the tallest from the bunch, pushing the stroller with little Erica, her half-sister and Mike's and Jess's youngest daughter, their older one, Sandra was dancing circles around Reid, who was holding the hand of about three to four years old dark haired girl and on his other side, Jack. Jack was grinning as if strolling through a park in Reid's, and his companions, company was the most natural thing in the world.

Reid's other companions were a tall dark-haired woman that was pushing a pram and had another two little dark-haired girls holding on it. One of them appeared to be about three-four years old like the other one and the second seemed to be younger than them but not too much.

Just as suddenly as they appeared the woman and the girls parted their way from Reid and Jack, who was still holding on Reid's hand. The females went to the playground ahead of Aaron and Beth and settled down there while Reid and Jack continued walking down the alley engrossed in a discussion.

Aaron frowned. Reid **did see** Jack few times in Jack's life, before Aaron's divorce, after it and after Haley's death. None of the meetings warranted another though, even if Reid once won Jack's tentative trust by a string of magic tricks before Penelope whizzed Jack away to her lair to watch a cartoon. But that didn't explain the current level of comradeship between Reid and Jack, one of a dotted upon nephew and world's most awesome uncle.

As they got closer Aaron could hear their discussion a bit better.

"Did Auntie bring the crayons with her?" Jack asked curiously.

"Of course she did," Reid confirmed eagerly. "Do you want to draw first?"

"If I'll finish drawing I can have more time to play," Jack said simply. "Can you explain something to me Uncle Spencer?"

"Always," Reid smiled at Jack. "What's bugging you Jack-Jack?"

"What's with those biking comments between Uncle Mike and Aunt Jess?" Jack asked simply. "Is it because dad can't ride a bike and they are making a fun of him or because he can and they are jealous?"

"Neither," Reid sighed. "It has nothing to do with biking at all, even if the bike is indirectly involved."

"So..." Jack frowned and after a moment added curiously, "It's a bit like with Aunt Jess making comments to you about making an honest woman out of Aunt Kate and you telling her that she already is?"

"In a way," Reid agreed. "Remember that time when we talked about literately and figuratively?"

"So there is a woman in there somewhere?" Jack asked pensively.

"Probably," Reid said simply.

"Is she nice?" Jack asked.

"I don't know," Reid admitted. "But you will."

"How?" Jack looked up at Reid.

"I know your dad, Jack-Jack," Reid said simply. "He wants the best for you, you have my word on that. Pinky swear," Reid extended his right pinky to Jack, who quickly hooked his own pinky around Reid's. "Any person your dad will ever introduce to you will be the person your dad wants you to meet because he knows that he or she will be nice to you. So if you will meet her, it will be because your dad decided that he can trust her to be nice to you which is why you will know even if I won't."

"Will I will have to call her mum?" Jack asked nervously.

"Of course not!" Reid said quickly.

"Elle calls Aunt Kate, Mama," Jack said pointedly.

"Elle is different, Jack," Reid sighed. "Elle is growing up with Haley, they are the same age so for Elle calling Kate 'Mama' is a bit more natural because Haley is like her sister and when Haley calls Kate Mama so does she. That doesn't change that Elle has her own mum, Haley has her own, and so does Lily. It's their choice to call Kate Mama and nothing else than that obliges them to use that name on Kate. And nothing else but your own choice will make any woman your dad will bring home to call her your mum, your dad knows that and he won't expect you to do so... but if he does you know that you can tell me that," Reid winked at Jack.

"So you can give him a third degree about it," Jack said with a smile. "Right after Aunt Jess and Uncle Mike."

"Exactly," Reid nodded eagerly.

"So I don't have to worry too much about drawing another picture for dad?" Jack asked dryly.

"Not in the least," Reid agreed.

"Will it be too obvious if I draw a woman on a bike on the picture?" Jack asked.

"Oh, Jack-Jack," Reid sighed.

"It's called positive rain … rainy … reinforcement," Jack beamed at Reid.

"You know what Jacky? Sometimes you make me regret telling you about Pavlov," Reid shook his head.

"I don't," Jack shrugged. "Paul isn't mean to me any longer. President Lincoln."

"Am I not destroying my enemies by making friends of them?" Reid said quickly. "You will go far in life young Padawan, I just hope that I will live long enough to see it."

"I have a lot of great teachers," Jack smiled.

"Is there another reason you are buttering me up, Jack-Jack?" Reid asked skeptically.

"No," Jack shook his head.

"Jackster," Reid said sternly.

"Can you teach me how to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in French? So I can read it to dad?" Jack asked eagerly. "You taught Haley."

"Haley taught herself," Reid said simply. "But yeah, sure, like pirates say; in for a penny, in for the whole cursed treasure. But let's finish the picture first before we will read the first chapter."

"Okay," Jack agreed.

They both wondered off to their companions, Jack ran eagerly towards the woman who with a smile handed him paper and crayons before she returned to tending to the needs of the child in the pram, all the time taking sidewise glances at the other kids from the group at the playground.

"Aaron?" Beth's voice brought him back to reality and dampened his growing need to go over there and deck Reid as hard as he could. "You look like you are about to commit random act of physical violence on him."

"He is giving me a very good reason to, Beth," Aaron retorted without tearing his eyes from Jack.

"Because you just learned that your son has... a fairly godfather?" Beth asked simply.

"How did you...?" Aaron turned to look at her.

"I'm not an expert on human behavior but neither I happen to be completely oblivious to it," Beth said simply. "I saw how you tensed when you recognized the kids, then frowned, that frown only deepened when they separated, as they talked it deepened even more, you put aside your coffee, you are clutching at the bench, I hazard a guess that you feel like clutching them on someone's neck. I made an inference which turned out to be correct. And as long as I have your attention refocused let me get it into your head, I may not know Jack, but he seems to trust those people, trust enough to confide in them and that, in my honest opinion, is a good thing."

"I'm not going to disagree with that," Aaron grunted. "What, in my honest opinion, isn't right in this picture is that Jack was supposed to be with his Aunt today. Instead he is here, without her..."

"Something came up and she didn't want to worry you?" Beth suggested. "The other kids are hers, right?" she asked. "So she trusts them to take care of her kids and on extension of your son whom you entrusted into her care. I might be wrong but he seems content and he trust them enough to confide in them with his worries."

"Which means prior relations and that's exactly what bugs the most," Aaron retorted. "I didn't know of them, Jack never said a word about spending time with Reid and in fact neither did Reid who possesses uncanny ability to blindside me."

"Did you give either of them a reason to?" Beth asked simply. "Just asking," she added quickly.

_Reid's effect._ Seemingly innocent term he coined after an interview, on which Reid tagged along in his early days, with a mother of six by then end of which Reid was practically mortified and four of the six kids were bawling their eyes out, their dachshund was eying Reid's pants leg way too eagerly which almost had Reid practically inching into Aaron's lap. If back then he knew how much of a damage that innocent comment might cause he would have kept his mouth shut. It took Henry and few months of baby-sitting duties before Reid stopped fidgeting around the baby smaller than a two years old and while Reid might have gotten better at interacting with kids he still remembered.

"I might have," Aaron admitted grimly. "Still..."

"He is your son, I get it," Beth said sympathetically. "To quote fairly godfather: you want the best for him. I don't think that solving your differences with Reid right now would be the best for Jack. Even for introducing Pavlov and positive reinforcement to him."

"Oh God," Aaron groaned as he put his face in his hand.

"Personally, I think it's cute," Beth said, her voice was laced with amusement.

"Humiliating more like it," Aaron sighed. "I make a living out of interpreting human behavior, I have a PhD in behavioral psychology, I can profile disorganized psychopath almost in my sleep and under my very nose my son aided by resident genius blinker is applying behavioral psychology on me and if I didn't hear it personally I wouldn't have realize it for a longer while. I would have figured it out eventually but most probably I wouldn't track the source for another longer while."

"So you took a huge blow to your ego," Beth said simply. "I suggest swallowing bitter pill and concentrating on positives. For example, your son is smart, good for him, smart people get farther in life. He confides in adults, not all children do, definite plus in my opinion. Besides he seems to have fun in there which is good for him. He wants to learn something by himself so he can make you proud, a plus. He found someone who can help him with learning it, another good thing because he is too young to use google unsupervised but he is not one of those kids who moan and groan that they want to learn something new and end at that. And let me finish," she added quickly because Aaron started to open his mouth, "he is like that because you and his mother did great job at raising him. I know that I would be proud."

"I am," Aaron admitted as he slowly raised his head. "So was Haley," he added softly. "I'm sorry... didn't tell you."

"We know each other for how long? Three weeks, four weeks? You strike me like a very private person, very careful with trusting other people, most certainly for a very good reason... And children are precious and they inspire in other people the need to protect them, especially in their parents... especially in single parents. I'm not angry that you didn't tell me about Jack, I don't have grounds to be, I won't insist on introductions. It will be your choice and your choice alone Aaron, when and where you will decide, if ever maybe," Beth said sympathetically as she gently patted his arm.

"Thank you," Aaron said quietly. "Don't take it personally, I'm trying to wrap my head around a lot of things and I have a lot of issues I need to work on, I'm not perfect."

"Nobody is," Beth said quickly. "And only a fool expects other people to be 100% perfect in every aspect of their lives. Contrary to the proverb the road to hell isn't paved with good intentions, they matter too, effort matters."

"Let's go to that small cafe by the gates," Aaron said quickly changing the subject.

"Okay," Beth stood up. "Are you sure?"

"Well, in the field I have to trust Reid with my life, he saved it few times too," Aaron sighed. "So I _can_ trust Reid with Jack too and since I'm technically not supposed to pick him up for another three hours I can spend part of it on plotting the embarrassing retribution on Reid for introducing Pavlov and positive reinforcement to my son and using it on me," he added as he stood up.

"Decaf?" Beth suggested. "Because of that ever present coffee-cup?"

"Decaf would be only a start," Aaron smirked. "When you know someone long and you know someone well, and I like to think that aside of few issue I _do_ know him well, you know not only their strengths but also their weaknesses, at the very moment I have an urge to play on every single one of them."

"I'm a bit worried that it might come back to bite you," Beth said skeptically as he looked at the playground. "I don't think that you are the only father in this equation, Aaron. How many kids your sister has?"

"Two, they live with her in Tokio, Jess is Haley's sister, she has two plus her husband's daughter from first marriage," Aaron answered.

"With Jack that would make four," Beth said. "Reid at the very least is a father of one, most certainly two and more or less might be involved by some relations with the other two. In few times I saw them around I know that the woman, Kate, most certainly wasn't pregnant but it's not the first time I saw this picture."

"You see them here often?" Aaron asked curiously.

"I always try to run through this park every week, I didn't see them every week though, usually once or twice a month in passing. I think that they started coming around last year, with the older two but sometime in late spring, early summer they were gone for a longer while, I might have missed them but after they returned I saw them around with the smaller girl and about two or so months ago with the pram, that's why I looked closely because I was trying to recall if she was pregnant. Either way it seems that you aren't the only one who feels fiercely overprotective and quantity isn't as overrated as it seems."

"Another bone I have to pick," Aaron muttered as he looked at the group.

The infant from the pram by then was in Reid's arms as he sat by Jack at the table while Jack was drawing; the woman had wandered off to the kids at the jungle gym, leaving Reid with Jack, the infant and little Erica that was dozing off in her stroller at the table.

Reid's comfortable air with the infant indicated that it wasn't the first time he held the child while he was paying attention to another, the child itself looked a bit too big to be a newborn but a bit too small to be a toddler around or not far under Erica's age. Reid's reactions and comments to Jack's tale over the picture indicated that it wasn't anything new to Reid either.

Something in Aaron's brain clicked. Past conversations with Reid about his father, his remarriage to a girl much younger than Reid himself because there was apparent reason for them to get married, Reid never really clarified it, but Aaron had his suspicions. Lame phone call in late June, claiming simply: _my father died in a car crash, don't come to the funeral, I'm not coming myself and there is no need to tell the team about it. Stop profiling me, I'm only calling ahead because I don't want you to call me just to listen profanities under his address and later have big boy talk over it and for the record you didn't come to your father's funeral either so you really don't have grounds to judge me_. Reid never mentioned after that call what became of his step-mother and half-sibling and by Aaron's estimations the little girl might be Reid's half-sister, especially taking into account her appearance after Reid returned from his '_sabbatical_'. In fact the infant too might be Reid's half-sibling. The older two though...

"They started to come with the older two sometime in January?" Aaron asked pensively.

"Early January," Beth confirmed.

"Was there anything about their behavior that struck you as odd?" Aaron looked at Beth.

"Now that you brought it up there was something," Beth nodded. "They didn't right away struck me like a pair, more like siblings. Sister comforting her brother. For sure I saw him crying at least once as she held him, she was also constantly crowding in his personal space and once, though I think it didn't happen at the same time I saw him playing with a silver band with a very miserable look on his face."

"But it was around the same month?" Aaron asked. "What the band looked a like? Like a ring?"

"I didn't see any jewels on it," Beth shook her head. "Wedding band?" she suggested.

"Never officially married," Aaron shook his head. "Not even officially dated anyone for a very long while," he added. "But official versions aside losing someone he was very close to explains a lot. Social withdrawal, health problems like psychosomatic migraines he _pretended_ to _not _ have and hid very well, insomnia that was getting worse to the point it was evident that he didn't sleep well, and at some nights at all. It's a text-book depression which later on only got worse."

"Why not talk about it at all?" Beth suggested.

"Because it was too painful, to him, other people. I was away for whole December, Jack was having problems so I was on a leave all month long. When I returned in January there were small signs that something was not right, like that alleged cold which lasted longer than usual, social withdrawal which started right then," Aaron said pensively.

"Which explains why he didn't come to you," Beth said pensively and when Aaron looked at her she clarified. "From what you said it sounds like Jack's mum died around December, whomever he had lost it had to happen within a few weeks after the anniversary."

"Which explains why he was hiding major depressive episode in the first place," Aaron nodded. "Though there is another thing I'm not getting."

"Like?" Beth asked as she kicked off the break on the bike.

"What in current circumstances in the name of Einstein means that quote," Aaron sighed. "Statistically widowed men start dating much faster than females. According to him I'm refuting the data, so what does he?"

"And what's, I hope it's accurate academic term, the average period of spousal bereavement for widowed males?" Beth asked cautiously. "I don't exactly follow statistics."

"That he didn't clarify," Aaron muttered as he kicked off the brake on his own bike. "But I'm not convinced that he is refuting the data, more like embracing it," he looked at the group around the table again. "Public display of affection."

"My dad always referred to it as marking the territory," Beth said with small smile.

"I will get him personalized mug that has that quota written on it and with personal attachment: _some men refute the data, some men embrace it_," Aaron muttered.

"Not much of a revenge for Pavlov," Beth said.

"According to a proverb revenge is a dish best served cold," Aaron said. "As it happens we are allegedly on a down week next week. I will have enough time to watch him as he works himself into a frenzy trying to figure it out. Especially if I will put effort into it and personalize it myself."

"I'm worried that if you will overdo it you might end with a mug chucked at your head," Beth said skeptically.

"Or I could simply stick to: _some men refute the data, some men embrace it_," Aaron said.

"Sounds more devious," Beth smiled.

"And I know what I will get in return, eventually," Aaron smiled.

"What if you don't mind answering?" Beth asked.

"Personalized mug on my own, in his handwriting," Aaron said. "With: _DNFW goes both ways_."

"DNFW?" Beth asked.

"It's an acronym for '_do not fuck with_', Something I learned in my early days as a prosecutor," Aaron clarified. "Comes handy every once in a while. In his early days Reid made out of it particular art so I got him DNETAFW as a reward."

"Do not even think about fucking with," Beth smiled. "Appropriate."

"Our boss didn't think so," Aaron smiled remembering how Gideon suggested that Reid should keep that particular mug at home while giving both Reid and Aaron a knowing look. "But I know that he still has it and somehow I always ended with it when I came around and stayed long enough for coffee. It had been a while."

"No one says that you cannot start again," Beth smiled. "For longer than coffee in fact, Jack didn't exactly look like he would really mind."

"For now I do mind," Aaron said. "But once I stop, why not? I need to refresh a lesson or two first."

"DNFW?" Beth smirked.

"I was thinking rather about DNETAFW," Aaron smiled.

_Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around._

_Leo Buscaglia_

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><p><em>Feedback is love.<em>

_TBC..._


	2. Chapter 2: Of Fathers

**Title: **Of Fathers and Fairly Godfathers

**Warnings: **Spoilers up to 7x10 Bittersweet Science.

**Pairings:** Still no explicit ones. Referenced Hotch/Haley, Jessica/her husband (let's make him an OC for the sake of conversation, he is not that important) and Reid/OC (mentioned in passing). In overall for this chapter a very strong bonding between Hotch and Jack.

**Summary:** He felt like closing the door, getting to his car, driving to Van Ness and having a very long and very loud argument with Reid with probable involvement of physical violence.

**Word count**: About 6000

**DISCLAIMER**: The Mark Gordon Company, ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television own Criminal Minds. I just took them out to play and I promise to put them back when I'm done.

_Feedback_ _is welcomed with open arms._

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><p><em>The words that a father speaks to his children in the privacy of home are not heard by the world, but, as in whispering-galleries, they are clearly heard at the end and by posterity.<em>

_~Jean Paul Richter _

**Chapter two: Of Fathers and Sons.**

The only reason he didn't go after Jack, and Reid, after he parted his ways with Beth was not because the logic of her reasoning had sunk, though certain parts _did_ sink as much as it bothered him.

For all her acclamations that she wasn't well-versed in reading human behavior she did hit his controlling issues pretty close to the mark and he wasn't convinced that she really wasn't angry for not mentioning Jack in the first place. But as closely as he observed her after they walked away from the kids she didn't show any sings of indignation. He might not know her well but in the short time he knew her he quickly discovered that she was observant, that's why he initially raised the issues with Reid to her attention. She might not be right in her assessments all the time but if she saw something then well... she _did_ see it and direct observation he could take for granted in so far so he really didn't have a reason to not accept it this time.

Plus it gave him time to work his righteous snit with Reid over going behind his back without worrying that he would just snap and go over there to deck Ultimate Boy Wonder. But by the time he picked Jack up from Jess's house his Unit Chief persona was firmly in place though he avoided responses to any jests Jess threw at him and he firmly put the lid on his indignation when he discovered _why_ Jack and the girls were with Reid and his companions in the first place when they were supposed to be with Jess and Mike.

It was so simple that it almost made him grind his teeth. Jess might have controlled herself but Mike wasn't any master of hiding his reactions from Aaron, didn't even appear to think that his behavior was any different than usual. Mike was very affectionate with Jess and Jess herself was wearing a turtleneck which neck she was constantly rolling up, it didn't take an FBI profiler to realize what they were doing when they were left unsupervised.

But Jack had been chippy all afternoon long, before and after he presented Aaron with his picture of Aaron biking in the park, with non-descriptive biker that allegedly might be a woman because according to Jack's statement: women rode bikes too.

To his partial relief the female biker wasn't anywhere close to him in the picture but considering that Jack draw the picture under supervision of a certified, triple-doctored, hell even quadruple-doctored ass that happened to be very well-versed in behavioral psychology and could put a solid linguistic profile in his sleep and interpret child's drawing before his first cup of coffee for the day, Aaron wasn't sure how much of Jack's own efforts and how much of Reid leading his hand was in the picture. Jack was at the phase of drawing when a lot of things got muddled and blurry because he was trying to brave slight changes of perspective on and off but at the very least his pictures were colorful long before Aaron knew that Reid was anywhere around Jack, at the very least he hoped that it was it.

Jack himself, all afternoon and early evening long chattered about his time with Aunt Jess and Uncle Mike and his cousins, who (in)conveniently kept their mouths firmly shut.

Aaron waited patiently. Six years old's weren't skilled at holding secrets and Jack would eventually let something slip and then Aaron would pounce. Except by the time Jack's bedtime arrived Aaron realized that he grievously underestimated someone in this equation, though he wasn't completely sure whatever it was Jack alone or Jack coached by Reid to show around Aaron only certain kinds of behavior. So he did the only thing he could really do: he folded.

When Jack clambered out of the bathroom, where he was dressing himself into his pj's all by himself Aaron was already in his own pj's at the floor by Jack's bed waiting for supposed bedtime story that today wasn't going to be there.

What he told Gideon in that damned house in rural Georgia was true. As an agent he taught Reid everything he could, except handling emotional issues, a fact that came back to bite him in the butt more than once after that day. He never, strike that, he almost never allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment because when he did bad things happened, be it in the old past or, more worrisome, in a recent one.

His alternation with Chester Hardwick was nothing but a gruesome testament of how far he would go if he allowed his iron-clad control to slip. But luckily for him Reid was a genius, luckily for him Reid was a genius who made a work of art cowing people into submission, with or without the profile, luckily Reid **had** the profile, everything he needed to center Hardwick's attention on himself and luckily Reid didn't report Aaron even though he had very good grounds to do so.

Except two weeks later West Bune and Owen Savage happened, and for the first time Aaron truly realized the extent of the damage he had done to Reid by not showing him how to handle things emotionally. In the end Aaron tried his best to do what Reid had done for him; refocus Reid's attention where he could work out his anger without the danger of being ripped into pieces or in that case being blown into pieces. The problem was that Aaron miscalculated, forgot that Reid was very good at showing other people in himself what they wanted to see, a self-preservation instinct developed in childhood.

Aaron could understand that Reid didn't want to see Owen committing suicide by a cop and for that moment he let it slide. But then came that terrifying moment in the graveyard when he realized that **Reid knew**, that he blindsided Aaron as much as the others and consequently put his own life in danger, he was shielding Owen from their guns with his own body for fuck's sake.

He spent three hours working out his steam by blitzing through the paperwork which in the end had done nothing to help him control himself. Any unit chief would have booted agent like Reid into enforced sabbatical with mandatory psych evaluations at the very least if not from the bureau altogether.

Any unit chief except Aaron, in whose memory his alternation with Chester Hardwick was still fresh even if the bastard himself was dead. Aaron understood anger, anger so vicious that it chokes you so hard that you cannot control it on your own. He knew what lead into his own alternation with Chester Hardwick, personal emotional problems he couldn't handle, so he knew what lead into Reid's stunt with Owen Savage. He handled it as delicately as he could, explaining Reid repeatedly why he suspended him for a week that followed their return from West Bune. Reid nodded to that and accepted that in the end Aaron's suspension was a lot more merciful than whatever Strauss would have done to him.

That didn't stop Aaron from keeping Reid close by on assignments in weeks following, not just because **he wanted to know** that Reid was handling his issues but because **he wanted Reid to know** that he could still come to him with them. And for a while Reid did come to him, and then, suddenly, he stopped.

What was worse was that Aaron knew when it stopped. If he was less hell-bent at hunting Foyet, at proving that bastard wrong he would have recognized that Reid, who confronted him after Rhode Island was calm and controlled Reid with his '_with all due and undue respect, sir, I was shot in the leg, I didn't have a SUV blowing up next to me'_.

It was the same Reid who brought him coffee and offered to help tackling the budget when Aaron couldn't bring himself to follow the rest of the team in search of undercover cop's family. It was the same Reid who with the passing time asserted himself more and more. It was **Supervisory Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid**, not **just** Reid.

Last year just showed the extent of the damage, it just didn't raise in Aaron's head alarm bells that should have gone out. His own struggle with single parenthood prevented him for a very long time from realizing when and where something had changed.

Before they ended in Canada Reid was still talking to him about his personal issues, after Canada he was just asserting himself when he had to, in his unique way informing Aaron '_with all due and undue respect sir, you are (insert whatever behavior Reid was commenting on)_'.

Canada meant Foyet and Foyet had done enough of damage in Aaron's life to let that son of a bitch control the remains of it from beyond the grave. Whatever Reid was going to like it or not Aaron would get to the bottom of it. For fuck's sake Reid hid major depressive episode from them, he hid major personal change in his life, change Aaron had suspicions that if he didn't discover by a coincidence most probably he wouldn't know about for a very long time, if ever.

"Dad?" Jack asked tentatively as he entered the room. "You look stormy. Did something happen?"

Logical and true answer to that was '_yeah, it did_' but Aaron knew that he needed to tread very carefully with Jack.

"Sorry buddy, I was thinking," Aaron gave Jack small smile.

"About?" Jack asked curiously.

"I'm not very good at expressing my emotions, Jack," Aaron sighed. "I prefer to not show them, sometimes it's easier to not show them, sometimes it's not. Sometimes I'm scared that if I will show them some people will use it in not a good way. And sometimes it's a good thing but for most of the time it's a bad thing, Do you understand that?" he asked.

Jack nodded as he approached Aaron and sat on the floor next to him.

"Because if you don't show other people what's eating you they won't know when or how to help you," Jack said pensively.

"Exactly," Aaron nodded. "It's something I learned from my father who... let's say that he never truly deserved the title of the 'Dad of the Year', nor he seemed to care for it. Sometimes it felt to me as if me, Aunt Harriet, Uncle Thaddeus, Uncle Harold, Aunt Mary-Louise and Uncle Sean were there to look good, nice and proper on the photographs in his office to let him keep his image of a successful lawyer with a big, happy family. For most of the time we were just that, Jack, space-fillers and if you looked at the photographs more carefully you would see that we all smile on them but that these smiles are never fully sincere, never last longer than a second."

Jack nodded slowly but he didn't say a word.

"Out of the photographs he was never a smiling father, I have no memory of him ever smiling at us, being proud out of something we did. He was very strict, too much sometimes, especially with Thaddeus, Harold and me, Sean has very few memories of him, something, truthfully, I'm glad for because he has only good memories. He is the main reason we all flew home early, well almost all of us, I was the youngest from the older five and after he passed away someone had to take care of Grandma Tess, Grandma Annabel, Sean and Mary-Louise," Aaron continued.

"Did he hit you?" Jack asked tentatively.

"No," Aaron let the lie roll out of his tongue.

Jack didn't appear very convinced.

"Few times," Aaron admitted. "Only few times."

"Did he used any other punishment?" Jack asked pensively.

"He had very good imagination," Aaron said quietly. "He was also unrelenting, once he set his mind on something, no amount of begging would sway his opinion... He wouldn't sway... I learned early that showing emotions, any kind of emotions doesn't change a thing but makes him smile, pleases him and it doesn't change a thing. Not showing what I felt was the only power I had against him, it didn't change the severity of the punishment, justified or not, but at the very least that twisted smile wasn't showing on his face."

Jack nodded slowly but remained silent.

"I grew up promising myself that I will never allow him, his shadow to affect what kind of father I would be. I didn't know _when_, I didn't know _if_ I ever be a father but I always knew what kind of a father I _won't_ be, one like he was. When your mum and I had you, when the doctors let me hold you for the first time I was scared Jack, I was terrified."

"Of me?" Jack blinked owlishly. "But I was a baby. I had no super powers... Well maybe super-smelly poo."

"Reid, Uncle Spencer once called them bio-hazard," Aaron admitted with small smile. "But to set the record straight you had a little sick tummy that day and your mum and I really had to leave you at home for an hour to visit grandma Helen at the hospital and apparently Reid's ability to ignore certain smells didn't extend to overloaded diapers back then, he was slightly green when we came back."

Jack smiled slightly.

"But I don't want to talk about diapers now," Aaron continued. "When I held you for the first time I was scared. I think that all fathers are, to certain extent, for various reasons. I was scared not of you, Jack, but of what kind of a father I will be to you and everything I really truly knew, truly had, that day was the knowledge what kind of a father I didn't want to be for you. I didn't want to be my father and I promised myself that, no matter what, I will never be."

"You aren't," Jack said simply. "You are the best dad in the world!" he added eagerly.

"Thank you, buddy," Aaron sighed. "I'm glad that you think that but I also know another thing. The way I grew up is a great deal responsible for how I handle my emotions and in that regard I'm not the best example to follow, that's why while I understand that you don't come to me when something is bugging you, it makes me sad that the way I was raised, with things I don't agree now, in fact had never agreed with, is affecting you Jack because it's one of the things I promised myself will never happen to you."

"It would make you sad," Jack said timidly. "I don't want to make you sad, daddy."

"It makes me sadder knowing that you are sad Jack and feeling like you can't come to me," Aaron explained.

"I'm sorry," Jack said quickly and he wrapped his arms around Aaron's neck. "I don't want you to be sad because of me or mad at me because of it."

"I will never be mad at you because you are sad, Jack," Aaron assured Jack as he hugged him tightly. "I understand that sometimes you don't feel like coming to me when something is eating you and I can understand that you rather prefer to go talk about your problems with someone else, someone you trust. I know that there will be lots of time in the future when someone else would seem like a better person to trust in because all children think that at some point mums and dads just can't understand certain things just because they are mums and dads."

Jack smiled into Aaron's neck.

"It might be funny now but just wait ten years and you will agree with me," Aaron said pointedly. "You will grow facial hair and with it you will grow an attitude."

Jack snickered as he pulled away slightly to look at Aaron.

"You have facial hair," he said simply.

"And according to a lot of people I have an attitude. You can tune it a little bit but you never fully grow out of it," Aaron said.

"That's what Uncle Spencer says," Jack said dryly.

"About my attitude or attitude as an attitude itself?" Aaron asked.

Finally he got to the topic he wanted to get from the start.

"Attitude itself," Jack answered. "He says it's behavioral, like Pavlov's dogs but different."

"He told you about Pavlov's dogs?" Aaron asked curiously. "Why he told you about Pavlov's dogs?"

Jack bit his lip quickly and took a deep breath, "Paul was a bit mean to me when we started school. I didn't want to worry you or Aunt Jess and Uncle Mike is completely hopeless with school stuff but Uncle Spencer... I saw his photos from school, he looked like he had problems at school with other kids too so... I went to him because he might have more ideas on how to handle Paul without making big deal out of it."

"Did it work?" Aaron asked.

"Sure," Jack said eagerly. "Paul isn't mean to me any more. He is living with his dad now and his new mum is so very nice. He says that I have the coolest uncle ever."

Aaron raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Uncle Spencer asked Aunt Jess once if he could pick me up from school, when you had to stay longer because of these bothering budget thing, so Aunt Jess called school so he could pick me up and Paul's dad was there too to pick him up and Uncle Spencer talked with Paul, talked with his dad, then Paul wasn't at school for a week and he was with his dad when he returned," Jack explained on one breath. "I tried to ask him what he talked with Paul about but he said it was confidential so I went to Aunt Kate and she told me that if Paul wanted to talk about it with me one day then he would and that I have to be very patient and very supportive if I want to help him."

"Who is Aunt Kate?" Aaron asked curiously.

"She is Haley's, Elle's, Lily's and Mary's mama," Jack explained. "No," he frowned and pouted before he continued. "She is Haley's mama because her mama and dad passed away when she was very small, small like Mary is and they are both her sisters' babies. Elle's mama passed away too but she still has dad like me, and Aunt Kate of course, and Lily... Lily's mama and dad passed away too but she has Uncle Spencer like Elle but Uncle Spencer is her brother and Elle's dad but Lily calls him dad like Elle and Haley do and like Mary would but she is too small to talk other than gurgle and cry. They are all great and I really have great time with them."

"You see them often?" Aaron asked.

"A lot," Jack admitted. "Aunt Kate is a friend of Aunt Jess, they work together like you and Uncle Spencer so Aunt Kate with the girls comes often to Aunt Jess and Uncle Mike when you are away. Sometimes Aunt Jess and Uncle Mike take us to their place. They took us six times there since Uncle Spencer and Aunt Kate brought Lily after his very long vacation. Uncle Spencer didn't look very happy when Aunt Jess told him that we went there but Aunt Jess told him to chill out and he said something about well-meaning, supposedly board-certified psychiatrists and Aunt Jess said something about obsessively paranoid profilers. And I asked if I could have a sleepover with Uncle Spencer and Aunt Kate one day but suddenly they all started acting like they were playing that stupid game of telephone."

"How?" Aaron asked.

"I asked Uncle Mike first, he told me to ask you, Aunt Jess, Aunt Kate and Uncle Spencer first. I asked Aunt Kate and she told me that I should ask Uncle Spencer and you first. Uncle Spencer said that I should ask you, Aunt Jess and Aunt Kate first. I asked Aunt Jess and she said that I should ask you, Uncle Spencer,and Aunt Kate. And every time I asked them they all looked like it was the best to **not** ask you."

"So you didn't," Aaron nodded.

"They are freaking out," Jack shrugged. "I know why they are freaking out but really it's kind of silly you know. Especially after I was in and out at their place six times already and I didn't have even a single nightmare. Aunt Jess didn't say a word and I didn't say I word too because I really wanted to stay and play with Haley, Elle and Lily and I decided that I could give it a try because it looked nothing like it used to and if I felt worse Aunt Jess would take me out and she and Aunt Kate were watching me like a cat watches a mouse all afternoon long, they hid it very well when I looked up but I could feel them staring at me when I wasn't looking. I didn't have nightmare and I wanted to try again and again and every time was fun and I never had a nightmare but they all don't want to agree to that sleepover."

"I don't understand," Aaron admitted. "Why you would have a nightmare from staying at their place? Where do they live?"

_844 6__th__ Street Northwest. Please say 844 6__th__ Street Northwest Jack_.

That was the address of Reid's apartment building, the one officially listed in Reid's files, the one Aaron had, all of them in fact, had been to his place more than once. Aaron quietly started praying that it was it, even though logically couldn't be it because Jack said house and that particular address was an address of a two-bedroom apartment, not exactly comfortable place for a family of two plus four or very comfortable place for a sleepover.

"3645 Van Ness Street Northwest," Jack answered.

Aaron stared at Jack in shock. It couldn't be it, it just couldn't be it. Jack had to get it wrong. He must have gotten it wrong.

"3645 Van Ness Street Northwest?" Aaron whispered. "Are you sure?"

"Very," Jack confirmed simply. "You wouldn't recognize it if you went inside it now. It's gigantic and so open and Uncle Spencer finished the tree-house, it's great. It has so many hiding places that I gave Aunt Jess almost a heart attack. No, I almost gave Uncle Spencer a heart-attack when he found me, I gave one to Aunt Jess earlier over something else. And they have a small swimming-pool in the basement, the floor is moving and I swam an awful lot when I was there. It's been great... Err, I was there six times and I'm fine, I was fine every single time... and there are so many pictures of mum there. I forgot to tell you that mum introduced Aunt Kate and Uncle Spencer to each other and they have so many warm stories about mum and Aunt Kate baked us a pie from the apples from the garden, it was so yummy …."

Jack was eagerly working himself up to the level that would put Reid's usual rambles into a shame and unlike Reid, who mastered the art of breathing between sentences, he was almost panting.

"Jack!" Aaron hissed. "Take a deep breath."

Jack stopped immediately, took a very deep breath and let it out as he said, "I really want to have that sleepover, I was asking for months. Please dad?"

He looked at Aaron hopefully with his big brown eyes and open and eager expression.

3645 Van Ness Street Northwest. The house. The house he managed to sell in precisely nineteen days after he put it on sale, a miracle considering that when he tried to sell it before two years earlier to settle divorce arrangements he was unable to do so for over a year and half and in the end he and Haley agreed to take the house off the market. There were no questions about lowering the price even a tinniest bit, no questions why he was selling the house. The woman who bought it accepted the price right away, didn't ask for a very lengthy tour and all questions she had about the house she had she asked out of the house.

Aaron being Aaron ran a background check on her which came up empty and nonthreatening in any shape or form. Any questions he did have he asked, he got his answers and when the deed was closed he promised himself to never think about the house or the woman again because he wasn't going to miraculously change his mind in the last moment. He got what he wanted out of it, most of the money from the sale allowed him to close the mortgage on his own apartment and what was left of it went to Jack's college-fund.

Now he knew that he should have made a follow up, should have pressed harder, should have dug deeper. If he did he would have known that Reid's involvement ran deeper than under the surface of '_my neighbor is looking for a house_'. He really wouldn't be surprised now if after deeper background check it would have turned out that at least half of the money from the sale came out of Reid's pocket, if not all of it.

Jack's Aunt Kate and the buyer of the house was the same woman, no questions asked. Jack was in and out of the house multiple times even after Aaron promised himself to never bring him there again. What was _more_ Jack **wanted to** go over there again and again.

"Dad?" Jack asked timidly. "You are not mad at them, are you?"

He wasn't mad, yet. He was shocked, he would get mad later, after he would stop reeling from shock but he didn't have time for that right now. He needed to decide on the course of action and he needed to do it fast.

"You still want that sleepover?" Aaron asked slowly.

Jack nodded eagerly.

"You know that I will have to check with Uncle Spencer and Aunt Kate if it's okay," Aaron said. "How about we go over there tomorrow to have a breakfast with them?"

"That would be great," Jack beamed at him.

_You have no idea_, Aaron inwardly snorted grimly.

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><p>Jack fell asleep shortly after Aaron proposed breakfast at THE house, seemingly exhausted by their <em>very<em> informative discussion but Aaron didn't feel like sleeping. He felt like closing the door, getting to his car, driving to Van Ness and having a very long and very loud argument with Reid with probable involvement of physical violence.

In the end what stopped him from doing so was the very reason which made him want to do so. Jack. He couldn't and wouldn't leave him unsupervised under any circumstances.

But he was still pissed. Strike that, he felt ballistic and he really wanted to tear that obsessively paranoid, manipulative son of a bitch into pieces, wanted to show him that he wouldn't allow anyone to blindside him _ever _again, wouldn't let anyone control his life. And anyone meant anyone, not anyone except passive-aggressive self-proclaimed, blinking very slightly, fairly godfather fucking Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor Spencer Aaron William Reid.

In fifteen minutes he managed to work up perfectly justified, reasonable, considering the circumstances, snit that would result in a) very painful and ultimately slow death of aforementioned quadruple-doctored jerk or b) severe dissociation which would lead him to becoming like people he chased or c) point b closely followed by point a.

But he couldn't allow that to happen, yes he was pissed off with Reid like never before but his anger toward Reid hadn't even reached the level of hatred he felt for his father, not to mention Foyet.

What he told Beth when they were leaving the group behind in the park was true. He knew Reid the longest and he knew Reid the best and to a certain extent Reid knew him the longest and the best. Reid's friendship with Morgan and JJ and Aaron's longtime friendship with Dave and Jason, before he left, aside, neither Morgan nor JJ nor Dave nor Jason were capable of more than intellectually understanding of who deep inside Aaron was, of who deep inside Reid was.

But there was a difference between trying to understand paranoid personality and understanding one because the first one, any empathic person could, the other however... Only a paranoid personality would be able to truly understand another.

Aaron knew that the extent of his father's abuse made him one and he also knew that the extent of Reid father's abandonment and the need to protect his mentally ill mother, and consequently himself, from the world also made Reid one.

Jason _did_ pick up Reid at one of his seminars and he _did_ smooth for Reid his path to FBI academy but it was Aaron who at the time taught at the academy full time recuperating from a minor depressive episode that not even his iron-clad control and high levels of compartmentalization could prevent from happening after too many lost cases, last of which turned to be a straw which broke the back of proverbial camel or in this particular case robbed Aaron from all strength and desire to bring justice to the families of the victims and putting the unsubs where they belonged..

Everybody had a breaking point and burnt out in BAU was a given, it was a matter of a right stressor, in the right time and place. Aaron managed to overcome the initial breaking point only because no one other than Haley had witnessed it and with all dignity at the time he managed to muster he went to Jason requesting a sabbatical to teach a semester at the academy full time. Jason didn't ask for details and approved it immediately telling Aaron that he still had a place to come back to once the time was up. Aaron only nodded not really sure if he would want to come back once his time was up.

But then Aaron meet Reid and amongst the flock of cadets Reid proved to be a challenge. Aarond found himself drawn to the genius; geeky, socially awkward yet eager to please his superiors and to show them that he was worth the trust Gideon put in him by smoothing his path to the academy. In his early days of training Reid reminded Aaron, in not mean-spirited way a puppy one rescues from shelter. Once during that time Aaron described Reid to Haley and she commented with small smile, 'Golden Retriever' and at the time it was the best and the shortest sum up of Reid's character.

But as Aaron made his personal goal the idea of getting Reid out of the academy straight into BAU he got to knew Reid better and he found himself growing strongly overprotective of the genius. It was once again Haley who hit the nail on the head, though she didn't initially bring the idea to Aaron's attention but made a comment to Jessica who happened to be visiting together with Mike and small Trish.

"Birds of a feather flock together," she said pointedly. "Thaddeus is Thaddeus and Harold is Harold, I don't have to explain that to you. Sean is your regular _I'm the hope of the world, I know everything better than you, I'm not a baby so kindly sod off_. But this Jess," she jutted her chin at the backyard where Mike and Reid were putting up the base of the tree-house together, a job Aaron was helping them with, before he went to pick up something to drink, "this is different and to me it seems that's how the relationship between brothers should look like. I'm just worried that once Aaron will realize how much, here at the very least, he treats Spencer like non-rebellious version of Sean he will majorly freak out and will cut off all ties. He will make the sense of it, I don't think that Spencer will, it feels to me like it's very hard for him to trust someone and he trusts Aaron to know that and to not abuse it."

Haley's assessment was powerful, humbling and completely terrifying to Aaron at the time and it happened to be damn accurate at the time. But that was before Boston, before Adrian Bale tore Jason's confidence in his abilities into shreds, before Aaron stepped up from the position of Senior SSA to Unit Chief, before Jack was born, before his marriage started falling apart and actually fell apart, before Georgia, before Chester Hardwick, before Owen Savage, before Adam Jackson, before Canada, before Foyet, before JJ left BAU, before Ian Doyle, before Emily died and came back.

Somewhere between that spring picnic in the backyard nearly eight years ago when Aaron was laughing so hard that he almost fell from the bench while Reid and Mike engaged one another into a contest of who made better voice imitations and between today's late morning in Rock Creek Park something changed and once greatly valued by both of them friendship degraded to nothing but an echo of what it once had been, for God's sake even Jack knew more about Reid's private life than Aaron did.

It stung and it stung him both privately and professionally. It stung Aaron because he let their friendship drift so far apart and it stung Hotch because Reid didn't even trust Aaron to confide in him with the issues that actually affected his job.

"Birds of a feather flock together even if they don't open their damned beak to exchange something more personal than have a good morning," Aaron snorted.

But it was going to change, tomorrow. Whatever Reid liked it or not.

_A sibling may be the keeper of one's identity, the only person with the keys to one's unfettered, more fundamental self. _

_~Marian Sandmaier_

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><p><em>Feedback is love.<em>

_TBC..._


	3. Chapter 3: Of Haunted Houses

**Title: **Of Fathers and Fairly Godfathers

**Warnings: **Spoilers up to 7x10 Bittersweet Science.

**Pairings:** Still referenced: Hotch/Haley, Jessica/her husband, Reid/OC (past and present) and Reid/Canon Character. This particular chapter explores past and present friendship between Hotch and Reid.

**Summary:** Your son is working towards mastery in passive-aggressive art of manipulation, drives hard bargains and he also needs to cut off watching Fairly Godparents.

**Word count**: About 9200 for the chapter.

**DISCLAIMER**: The Mark Gordon Company, ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television own Criminal Minds. I just took them out to play and I promise to put them back when I'm done.

_Feedback_ _is welcomed with open arms._

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><p><em>"The time has come," the Walrus said,<br>"To talk of many things:  
>Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—<br>Of cabbages—and kings—  
>And why the sea is boiling hot—<br>And whether pigs have wings._

_~Lewis Carroll_

**Chapter three: Of Haunted Houses**

To Aaron's relief Jack chattered all the way to THE house, through the brief stop at Krispy Kreme where Aaron purchased four boxes of donuts _feeling_ that the kids would tear through two boxes, _knowing_ that he himself will devour three-quarter of one of them and _hoping_ that Reid would blitz through half of the other before caffeine and sugar will kick in.

True to Jack's words the house looked different from the outside already. For instance it was painted in a soft creamy yellow color, garage door were replaced, so were the windows (and Aaron had a sinking feeling that the glass was bullet-proof, talk about job acquired paranoia) and the roof-tiles. The front yard however didn't change very much since Aaron sold the house. All of Haley's flowers were still there and the only change Aaron could see was ivy that was slowly climbing up in the juncture between the garage and the side of the house (slowly because any solid help would mean easier access upstairs to any criminal that would have balls to try and access the house).

The front door were replaced too and the new were one of those burglar-proof ones.

Aaron looked down at Jack who looked up at him with his most innocent expression that still could pass for 'I told you so'. Aaron smiled at Jack to cover his initial nervousness.

But as he looked again at the door his deeply ingrained by his mother manners kicked in. He really should have called, it was common courtesy, sure it would give Reid few hours to prepare himself, not something that Aaron really wanted but Reid knew what happened inside this house and it was early enough for Aaron to actually wake him up...

Jack made a decision for Aaron and started pulling him in the direction of the house. Soon enough they were by the door on which Jack knocked as forcefully as he could before he stepped away three steps.

Aaron could hear a movement behind but didn't saw anything until the curtain covering the glass panel on his left side of the door was pulled slightly for a second and quickly dropped as bolts were turned, chain was dropped and the door opened.

The woman who opened the door was a bit taller than he remembered her being but not too much, no more than two inches, most probably around an inch and half and yet she still wasn't taller than him.

When they first met her hair were pulled into a tight knot but now, like yesterday they were down with front strands pulled away from her face in an attempt to keep the rest of her curly, black mane from her shoulders and were long enough to reach past her shoulder-blades.

Other than that she didn't change much. Her blue eyes like before were hid behind designer glasses and though the color of the frames had changed a little bit their rectangular shape didn't. Another thing which didn't change was her serene smile that played softly on her lips.

"Good morning Jack, Mr Hotchner," she said simply.

"We brought breakfast, Aunt Kate" Jack stated with a beaming smile.

Aaron felt that he really had coming the comment, 'At six twenty-two in the morning on Sunday?'

"'That's wonderful," she said with a smile which only grew brighter. "Do you want cocoa to go with it?" she added as she looked at Jack. "Coffee, Mr Hotchner?"

"Yes, thank you," Aaron said calmly doing his best to keep slight nervousness he felt from his voice. "Doctor..."

"Kate," she interrupted him. "Katherine or Cameron. I answer to either but I get to suffer from temporary deafness when someone uses Kat, Kathy or Kitty," she added quickly. "Come on in," she stepped back holding the door for them.

"Katherine," Aaron said as he followed Jack inside.

Kate would be too familiar, using Cameron established comradeship Aaron didn't felt and Katherine was official enough without being rude.

"Can I have vanilla-banana milk?" Jack asked eagerly as he quickly reached up and grabbed her hand.

Another sign of familiarity.

"Of course," she smiled at Jack as she closed the door with her free hand before she picked topmost box of donuts from Aaron and started leading the way towards the kitchen, still holding on Jack's hand and leaving her back open to Aaron.

She wasn't afraid of him, which was good. Aaron wasn't sure if he would completely be able to turn his back towards virtual stranger as she did. He quickly shook his head and followed her and Jack to the kitchen.

Jack was right, the house did change considerably since he was here for the last time. Kitchen, dinning-room, breakfast-corner and living-room were wide open even though the staircase (wider, moved and replaced) seemed to serve as a natural boundary between the living-room and the dinning-room. From where Aaron stood in the entrance between the dinning-room and the kitchen he could see only four doors. One right from the kitchen and one in the dinning-room (designed to lead to the garage, in the old days there was a mud and utility room there). The third door were on the other side of the house closer to the backyard and the fourth were on the same wall closer to the front-yard.

As he expected, considering that Reid was supposed to live here, all area around the stairs (at the very least from what Aaron could see) was covered with shelves, so were the walls of the dinning-room, though the shelves in the dinning-room hosted not books but china pieces and small trinkets in wooden and transparent cabinets.

The shelves surrounding the stairs were filled with a mixture of books, photographs and few small plants on upper shelves.

Aside from the small carpet by the door there was no carpeting Aaron could see which left the oak panels on the floor (he remembered them being in place when he and Haley purchased the house) and all furniture Aaron could see was matching the panels.

It was the same house yet it was a different house.

He smiled when he looked around the kitchen quickly recognizing Reid's most priced possession when it came to home appliances, professional espresso machine with grinder which Reid found about two months after he started working in BAU on a flea market when Haley and Jess made him, Aaron and Mike tag along to buy 'a good porch couch that could fit a lot of people' for Mike's and Jess's new house.

They didn't find the couch but all of them got something grin-worthy from this trip. Reid, his precious espresso machine, Haley her most cherished china with pink rosebuds, five cups set, Aaron two out of five coins he was missing from the 1973 series in his coin album (only because Mike commented 'Eagle Eye that's blinder than a bat spotted it, thought that you might want to... hey where you are dragging me?'), Jess the set of six silver goblets with hunting emblems and samovar and Mike with 'almost genuine' replica of Elvis's guitar.

It was a good trip, it was a good memory and it happened to be one of the best espresso machines Aaron happened to ever drink coffee from, especially when Reid was feeling particularly generous and shared his highly guarded bag of Kopi Luwac with them and if Haley happened to bring around cookies...

A bile caught in his throat and he tried to swallow around it without much of success.

This was a house in which he and Haley wanted Jack to grow up, house which Foyet desecrated, house which Aaron deserted and a house in which Jack happily accepted from Katherine a generous cup of vanilla-banana milk with a beaming smile directed at the woman.

Aaron turned away from the two of them after he set remaining boxes with donuts on the counter to blink away the persistent mist that started to materialize in his left eye. He didn't want Jack to see that he was crying now because Jack liked being here and he seemed to feel safe here and it was nothing short of a miracle considering the brutality of Haley's death.

So Aaron wandered away to the shelves by the stairs because wanting to inspect the photographs was a perfect excuse to turn his back at his son and Katherine to wipe his eyes.

In the end it wasn't one of his brightest ideas because the first photograph he laid his eyes on was a picture from that spring picnic eight years ago in which Reid who was wearing a pointy cap, seemed to be engaged in a very animated discussion with Haley who was wearing smaller cap like a bird's beak and even though the cap was covering her mouth it was visible that she was grinning behind it.

As Aaron looked around the shelf there were more photographs of Haley around, most on Jack's eye level and in majority of them was Jack himself, either like as a small bundle of blankets with barely visible cap or as a toddler between two and four. In few of them was Reid, in few others Katherine with a curly, black-haired toddler in her arms. In other few they were both in there. In one particularly as Garcia would term it 'ultimately cute' one Katherine and Haley were sitting on each side of Reid who held another toddler while Jack and Katherine's kid, Haley if he remembered correctly each gave Reid a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

_Garcia would kill for the copy of that photo_, Aaron shook his head.

Small hand wrapped around Aaron's hand and he looked down. Though the eyes that meet his were dark brown they didn't belong to Jack but to a curly and black-haired girl that seemed to have Katherine's nose and serene, though a bit tentative smile. The curious look on her face however reminded Aaron of Reid.

"Hello, Mr Jack's dad," she said politely and her smile widened.

"Hello," Aaron whispered. "Haley, am I right?"

The girl nodded eagerly before she said, "Elle is sleeping, she is like dad, can't get her out of bed if there isn't cocoa involved. Lily is like them too, needs cocoa. Mama says it's yello... geno... genocide... genie, no genetics."

"Haley Emerson Cameron where did you learn that word?" Katherine called out of the kitchen.

"When we were watching the movie about pyramids with dad," Haley said simply.

The mutter that followed was uttered in a language Aaron hazarded a guess was Russian and most certainly contained a very saucy curse under Reid's address, one he most certainly heard about two to a year ago from a very nasty argument between Reid and Prentiss which made him pull both agents to his office where it turned out to be a very convincing role-play of a vicious argument which lead to the death of a young, Russian married couple in Baltimore. The performance was Oscar worthy because he hissed at both, 'English only!' and he didn't let both of them from his sight for the rest of the afternoon.

"You said that it's a rude word," Haley gasped.

"Lastochka," Katherine said swiftly. "I know that it's not a nice word but when your dad is doing something stupid, especially if his stupidity concerns you and your sisters I have every right to call it by its name, in his face and/or away from it when I learn of it."

"If you say so, Mamochka," Haley sighed. "It's still not nice."

"Malyshka," Katherine quipped.

"Does she even know to which word you are referring?" Aaron asked.

"Trust me, she does," Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Genocide," Haley replied simply with the most innocent smile a child her age could pull.

"Are you Russian?" Aaron asked curiously, trying to change the topic of the conversation.

"No, though if I dug deep enough I would find an ancestor somewhere in Ukraine area and most probably Finland too," Katherine smiled quickly. "My mother and oldest sister were doctors of Slavic linguistics, eastern and south respectively and in my childhood only my middle sister used English around me, the rest of my family explored my supposedly supremely spongy linguistic talents as they pleased. I spoke fluently in five foreign languages by the time I was six and eight by the time I was ten."

"And Haley?" Aaron jutted his chin at the girl.

"She knows English, French, Russian and Hungarian," Katherine answered. "She is very fluent in Russian and Hungarian, getting there with French."

"Haley is spongy with French," Jack pipped up. "She can read in it, Uncle Spencer taught her. Elle is good with Spanish."

"Jack!" Haley pipped up as she let go of Aaron's hand and ran to Jack.

"Haley!" Jack beamed at her as he hugged smaller girl. "We came with breakfast."

"That's cool," Haley beamed. "Mamochka can we watch Jimmy as we eat?"

"Of course, Lastochka," Katherine said. "Take the plates to the living-room, I will bring your milk there."

Once Jack and Haley were watching the adventures of Jimmy Neutron on TV as they munched through donuts from they post at coffee-table Katherine brought two mugs of coffee to the breakfast-corner and set one in front of Aaron.

"Spencer will be up soon," she said.

"I'm surprised that he already isn't," Aaron admitted as he thumbed the rim of his mug that claimed _DNETAFW_.

"It wasn't distress," Katherine shook her head. "Trust me Mr Hotchner if it was distress he would be down in eight seconds flat and he would be armed."

"I'm taking your word for that," Aaron nodded.

There was a longer moment of uncomfortable silence before he spoke again.

"Jack knows where he is," he said quietly.

"I know that he knows," Katherine answered calmly. "So does Jessica and Spencer."

Aaron stared at her.

"He tried to not show that he recognized the house," she said quietly. "But first time he came here he didn't move between the playroom and the living-room without either me or Jessica or Mike by his side. The second time he came here he asked the twins to work the case with him and he made sure to inform Spencer that he needs to teach them how to work the case."

"And you are allowing it?" Aaron shook his head.

"G. K. Chesterton wrote, Fairly tales don't teach children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairly tales teach children that dragons can be killed," Katherine recited.

"I know that, but it's not an excuse," Aaron shook his head.

"He remembered about time-capsule," Katherine said quietly. "He wanted to find it but he also refused to tell us where to seek it. As for the rest I blame Cinderella."

"Cinderella?" Aaron asked.

"Cinderella's Fairy Godmother made her wish come true," Katherine said. "I wish to un-burry the time-capsule, Auntie Kate. Your son is working towards mastery in passive-aggressive art of manipulation, drives hard bargains and he also needs to cut off watching Fairly Godparents."

"Fairly Godparents?" Aaron asked pointedly. "Who coined the term?"

"Haley, that's why neither of us twitched a pinky to uproot it," Katherine sighed. "About a month after Haley died he found Winnie the Pooh we gave to him. With a dedication 'To Jack on his 3rd and half birthday. Kate and Spencer.' Haley signed under it; 'Fairly Godparents' with our cell-phone numbers," she added and then lowered her voice, "Let's just say that his first call cost Spencer few braincells."

"Why?"

"The first time Jack called us he ended pounding his head against the table for five minutes," Katherine supplied.

"What Jack wished for?" Aaron asked quietly.

"For daddy smile again, just once," Katherine said quietly. "I don't know what Spencer did but three days later Jack called to say ''Thank you'."

Aaron swallowed and he hoped that it wasn't audible swallow.

"Did he have many wishes?" Aaron asked when he was sure that he could control his voice again.

"A few," Katherine nodded.

"A few?" Aaron asked skeptically.

"A few that puzzled us. Plus a great deal of regular, possible wishes that were easy to make true," Katherine answered as she looked away.

Aaron followed her gaze and spotted Reid at the other end of the shelves, dressed up in worn out jeans and a purple long-sleeved shirt that claimed in bold white letters '_Knowledge is power, and power corrupts. So study hard and be evil._' which was just as equally worn out. On the pro side he was dressed, on the con side he looked barely conscious.

"Morning Kate," he mumbled. "Morning Hotch," he added as he shuffled into the kitchen and latched himself to the espresso machine.

"Stake out by the crib?" Aaron asked pointedly.

"That and relentless beast," Katherine muttered. "John Hombolt IV. Neighbor's dog. Yapping york with severe cat issues. He is also known under other names but none of them a children friendly. His owner is insomniac and let's him out into the garden at night. I adapted, Spencer still has issues."

"Skunk would work," Reid muttered from the kitchen. "But for the life of me I still can't figure out how to catch it without being sprayed before letting it lose at that yapping menace. How one can consider as a dog something that is smaller than an average cat? Originally the purpose of keeping a dog was helping with hunting and protecting the household. That thing neither hunts well nor protects home. It just makes noise and stinky piles of poo in neighborhood backyards."

"Can we get a doggie, daddy?" Aaron heard from the living-room.

"Something big, smart, children friendly, shepherding, obedient. Border Collie, Bernese Mountain Dog, Golden Retriever, Alsatian..." Reid continued muttering.

"What happened to Reid's effect?" Aaron asked curiously.

"Developed Stockholm's Syndrome and was committed to St Elizabeth's Hospital, for eternal stay. Kynophobic side of aforementioned effect is strongly connected to my past experience with evil, yapping dust mops and anthropomorphized hot dogs that come equipped with jaws they like to sink into my Achilles tendon," Reid retorted before he took a long sip of coffee. "And the term itself was coined by a very special agent who took me for an exploration of possible dumpsite and then spent thirty-seven minutes sitting on the top of the wall because of his deeply hidden intense aversion to rottweilers which happened to be really cute and very helpful to the investigation."

"I agree they were helpful," Aaron grunted. "They were also evil and you were mad and chivalrous and I hate you," he added grimly and then turned to Katherine and said, "He refers to an incident which happened two weeks after I was almost mauled by a very vicious rottweiler. I preferred to not take any chances to repeat it. But his self-preservation instinct fell on the other side of the wall than he did and he bribed them with Oreos. Then he made up running story that I braved the rottweilers while he was sitting butt-planted on the wall."

"Because I knew that no one would believe the truth," Reid said simply as he picked the cup and approached the table. "I'm not even asking when did you got there."

"Six twenty-one," Katherine answered regardless.

"Which means that we can take the discussion to the office," Reid nodded as he nodded towards the dinning-room.

"You don't find my presence here as surprising," Aaron said pointedly.

"It was six twenty-one, not two twenty-one," Reid shrugged. "Six years old's aren't champion secret keepers. Your sedan is parked in front of the house, judging by the noise Jack came with you, you didn't bring your backup, you are dressed down and yet within socially acceptable boundaries and you brought breakfast. You came here for answers, not for revenge."

"Caffeine started to kick in?" Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Not yet," Reid shook his head. "Come on."

Aaron picked up his mug and stood up. It was evident that Reid was waiting for him and unlike Katherine he wouldn't leave his back open to Aaron but then again Aaron knew that Reid preferred to not take any chances.

Reid led him to the room at the front of the house on the opposite side to the garage and let Aaron in before he closed the door.

The room had almost all available space covered with bookshelves. Under the windows were comfortably looking window-seats and in the center of the room were two long desks, both cluttered with books, journals and papers.

"It looks..." Aaron said.

"Messy," Reid quipped.

"Totally you," Aaron smirked.

"It's also Kate's office," Reid added as he looked down at the desk closest to him and said, "Oh so there it was."

He reached for the phone and pressed 2 on the dial as he reached for the receiver and said, "Hi, this is Supervisory Special Agent Doctor Spencer Reid from Behavioral Analysis Unit and I'm calling to inform you that I'm sincerely sorry for calling you an immature jerk driven by your testicles and the need to lavish your boyfriend. Apparently I was wrong, I just found the missing file. It will be on your desk by Monday morning. If you both feel like it Kate is making designs for beef and tomato casserole for Monday dinner, if not more for me. See you tomorrow Jazz. Oh, and for the record I did not enter Rolf's office this week so whatever suddenly materialized in there didn't come from me."

"Do I want to know what it is all about?" Aaron asked.

"I forgot that until Monday morning you are still Section Chief," Reid muttered. "You know that Thompson got his future replacement?" he asked.

"Yes, an Unit Chief of Organized Crime Unit and SSAIC of the office in Anchorage for last fifteen months. Name Jessie Cameron. Recently in transfer between offices..." Aaron said. "Cameron as in..."

"Yes, that kind of Cameron," Reid confirmed. "Kate doesn't know that he is transferring the offices, merely that he will be in DC next week for her birthday, hopefully I should add, because as far as I remember the list of comings and goings Thompson's team is in the middle of rotation list."

"Close knit?" Aaron asked.

"Very close," Reid nodded.

"I was asking about Katherine and her brother, not Thompson's team," Aaron said.

"They are," Reid nodded. "Sit down," he motioned at the window-seat that faced the front-yard. "So?" he asked.

"So what?" Aaron asked as he sat down.

"You want answers, so ask a question," Reid said simply as he sat on the opposite side of the seat with his coffee.

It wasn't a perfect opening but it was one so Aaron accepted it even if he knew that Reid was assessing what Aaron knew. It was a sign of how much Reid didn't trust him on personal level.

"You don't trust me anymore," Aaron said calmly. "Personally, not professionally. That didn't change. What did, was the confidence you once used to put in me but you aren't doing it anymore. Not since Canada, not since Foyet attacked me in my own apartment. Then I only showed you my inability to save your friends, my inability to save Haley, to keep JJ in BAU, to..."

"With all due and undue respect you narcissistic, masochistic, matricidal, paranoid jerk," Reid cut him off harshly. "Regardless of what you think the world doesn't resolve around you and you are not responsible for other people's actions or more specifically lack of thereof."

"You are making no sense whatsoever," Aaron snorted. "What could you possibly had done back then that stopped you from confiding in me after?"

"He fired from the canon and killed a sparrow," Reid muttered as he shook his head before he put his mug on the windowsill and stood up. "It's not about what I did, but about what I hadn't done," he sighed as he walked across the room to pick up his jacket.

When he turned around Aaron saw that Reid had his wallet with his credentials in his hands and Aaron frowned inwardly. It made no sense whatsoever.

"The worst kind of regret is not the regret for taking an action but the one that haunts you for not taking one," Reid said quietly.

"You couldn't predict that Foyet was going to attack me, I couldn't do that," Aaron said quickly.

"I couldn't predict his attack," Reid agreed as he sat down. "I know that," he added as he propped his left leg against the wall and massaged his knee. "Change of weather is coming soon," he added grimly.

"But you still feel guilty," Aaron said quietly.

Reid opened his credentials and pulled square, white envelope from behind his ID. He opened the envelope and pulled its contents out of it.

"I was supposed to make sure that you would get it," Reid said quietly. "I got them the night we returned from Canada. Perfect excuse to come over and considering..." he shook his head and passed the contents of the envelope to Aaron.

It was a pair of tickets to Disney World, in his and Jack's name for the three weeks stay starting 14thNovember 2009. All inclusive.

The tickets were accompanied by a note in Haley's slightly slanted handwriting that read:

_Happy Birthday!_

_I hope that you will enjoy your 3 weeks worth all-inclusive vacation and that you will bring back from it many happy memories, and Jack, as hard as it would be to drag him out of the dreamland by the end of it._

_It's not only a birthday gift for Jack, Aaron but also a one from me to you as belated as it would end being. I know that last year had been very hard on you and I know that I didn't help a lot, strike that, I didn't help at all._

_I know what you are thinking right now and no, you aren't paying me back because if you do I will be tempted to sick on you Jack's Fairly Godparents and they will be armed with cameras._

_So sit back, relax and enjoy the thought of fast approaching vacation in one of the happiest places on earth with Jack. Now that's better, smile again._

_Love,_

_Haley_

_P. S. Don't interrogate the messenger or do interrogate the messenger and enjoy the dissertation about the importance of positive role models in a child's life that will be concluded with 'I seriously don't have any faintest idea what she is referring to, I'm just a messenger'._

_H._

"You held onto it..." Aaron whispered.

"For two years, four months and twenty-two days," Reid answered quietly. "I told myself tomorrow," he added even more softly. "And not a day went by without me regretting that decision. I held on them because..."

"You needed a physical reminder that sometimes tomorrow is too late," Aaron nodded. "And you call me narcissistic, masochistic, matricidal, paranoid jerk while you are just as guilt of the same charge," Aaron gave Reid small smile as he patted Reid's arm. "I will be taking those," he raised the tickets and frowned before he added, "You had done all of this because you feel guilty?"

"Define all," Reid shrugged.

"The house?" Aaron asked.

"It's kind of complicated," Reid sighed before he took a sip of his coffee. "You wanted to get rid off it and get rid off it fast and I could afford freezing my assets for few months, even a year. Kate and I however had a disagreement over the level of financial involvement so we each ended putting one third of the price on the line."

"It still leaves one third," Aaron said.

"Jess and Mike paid half of it and …. Elle paid the other half," Reid said quietly.

"Elle?" Aaron frowned. "Elle as in... Elle Greenway?"

"One and the same," Reid nodded. "It's a long and complicated story and right now I'm telling it from the middle. But yes, Elle helped. We could afford the purchase this way and I needed to know... I know that it was paranoid but I need to know who was going to buy the house and I could afford to wait patiently..."

Aaron nodded and said, "But you didn't sell it. You moved in here."

"For starters the house was kind of a demolition zone for first six months after purchase. At some point all that was left inside was the air between the roof and the floor of the basement. Jess gets particularly scary with a hammer when she sets her mind on it," Reid sighed. "But once it was livable it went back on sale," he paused and quickly added, "You have no idea how many sociopaths you can find in real estate business, both between agents and prospective customers. I think that Mrs Lambert scared off all of the decent customers, Kate is slowly adapting to that belief. In thirteen months it was on sale we came close to selling it twice but the offers were withdrawn in the last moment."

Aaron nodded.

"We kept it on sale until the end of July even though it was evident that we had no chances at selling it anyway. In the end renting two apartments was easier than selling one house," Reid muttered. "And by then we already knew that we were going to need something big."

"It's not really that big," Aaron said.

"Five bedrooms, four bathrooms and an indoor swimming-pool. I know what I put in here," Reid said pointedly.

"You utilized the attic and the basement," Aaron nodded. "And finished the tree-house, as Jack relayed."

"Side effect of two weeks worth of suspension," Reid said simply. "It was either that or losing few screws and as much as I despise John Hombolt IV I didn't want to be responsible for the death of that menace. So I fixed the tree-house, though Jess commented that I went overboard with the tree-house and made out of it a tree-mansion. It might or it might not eventually turn against me once the twins will hit their teens."

"Twins?" Aaron asked.

"That's what happens when you start telling a story from the middle of it," Reid sighed before he took a sip of his coffee and quickly put the mug back on the windowsill. "Haley and Elle aren't really twins but they are the same age, roughly four days apart and they treat each other as twins which I guess it's understandable considering the... I shall start from the beginning."

"Motion supported," Aaron nodded.

"I know that I have abandonment issues with negotiable levels of severity depending when, where and whom you will ask about them," Reid said simply. "Non-negotiable point however is, I know that I have them and I know that they do affect my relationships. I don't trust people easily but once I start trusting them I trust them blindly which more often than not comes back to bite me in the rear..." he paused and then added softly, "I kept in touch with Elle after she resigned from BAU."

Aaron nodded.

"I guess that since I'm already admitting to a lot I might as well admit everything and it's not that you can punish me for certain aspects you might find less ethical than you would like to," Reid continued.

Something clicked in Aaron's brain and few distant and puzzling memories got new meaning in the current light.

"Contrary to Gideon's hopes to set you up with JJ you decided to remain friends with the blonde and shacked up with the brunette," Aaron muttered.

"Story of my life," Reid deadpanned. "I end up admiring cold beauty of the blondes from afar but I go dancing horizontal tango with fiery brunettes. Leona McGowan, once burned, twice shy, you have no idea how happy I am that she slept with my supposed best man, as much as it hurt at the time. I'm still glad that I didn't advertise that disaster, I think that Morgan would develop a twitch and I'm worried that Garcia would suck off her credit card dry."

"I know of your almost marriage," Aaron nodded. "And of Elsie, you were together for a year but you only lasted a month living together," he added. "But you stopped at admitting that you left fraternization rules on the doormat of your hotel room."

"Mexico?" Reid grimaced.

"Mexico?" Aaron rolled his eyes. "I think that I've heard you two in New Jersey, but I thought at the time that you've ended watching an adult movie alone and I hazard a guess that you were also at it in Philadelphia and New York City and of course Mexico."

"If you will keep doing that don't blame me for enlightening you that neither Mike nor I were particularly happy with assisting Jess in watching _You've Got Mail_ but we went with it anyway," Reid snorted.

"So you and Elle were friends with benefits," Aaron said. "Did you..."

"No!" Reid shook his head vehemently and he did nothing to hide his horrified expression. "I have a self-preservation instinct you know. Never, not on your life, not my life, Jack's life, Kate's life, Haley's life, Elle's life, Lily's life, Mary's life..."

"Okay, I've got it," Aaron smirked. "You never slept with Haley."

"Glad we settled that record," Reid huffed. "Haley and I were friends, I've got benefits elsewhere," he added and then frowned.

"Elle," Aaron nodded.

Reid nodded slowly before he said, "After resigning from BAU she ended in New York PD, that's where I found her after I gave her few weeks to cool off. Let's just say that our first meeting was... a disaster and I didn't walk into any door like I said I did. But eventually we solved most of our issues without further damage and remained in contact. Until Georgia."

Aaron remained silent.

"It goes without saying that I wasn't really well for a longer while after Georgia, between 7th February and end of April and I suffered a relapse twice in that time," Reid said.

"Which roughly dates Elle's conception sometime during that time," Aaron nodded.

"Kind of," Reid nodded. "But Elle and I weren't sure of that. She wasn't exactly fine herself and there were few more likely possibilities. I was the one that stuck around and offered to help. How couldn't I? Elle was my friend and though I wasn't sure if Ella was my daughter I wasn't going to let her struggle with single parenthood."

"West Bune..." Aaron started.

"Don't West Bune me Mr Connecticut," Reid huffed. "Ella was born on 17th January 2008, West Bune was on 16th April, two weeks after Chester Hardwick. If I were to snap from the possibility of overwhelming responsibility trust me I would have snapped an awful lot earlier, most likely on that idiot Morrison... Did I?"

"Okay, fine," Aaron said quickly.

"But I guess that the period between and the aftermath of both helped me clear my head. Not from the cravings, at least not completely but it's easier to control one thing when you don't have to control another and anger blinds and blindsides you. Of course I had to take into account my self-preservation instinct, the wish to remain alive, in one piece and employed. Talking with Haley helped me back then, you were mentioned, few times, not favorably and we ended sulking over ice-creams to Jess's unhidden amusement. Next morning I had coffee and Haley dropped me at the 'movie theater'."

"Go figure," Aaron coughed. "That you would go to Haley."

"One of the three," Reid shrugged. "If I went to you right away I might not have been and you can take a pick: alive; in one piece; or employed. I bitched, I sulked, I got over it."

"Which kind of explains why Haley went out of her way to ensure that I've got three rather than two weekends with Jack per month," Aaron muttered.

"Actually that conversation had nothing to do with it," Reid shook his head. "I was sworn to secrecy because I was least likely to freak out and she didn't want a repeat of Chester Hardwick, elsewhere and apparently Trent turned out to be an ultimate coward and she needed to hold onto someone's hand otherwise she would freak out," he grimaced.

"Cancer?" Aaron said quietly.

"Presumably for a short while." Reid nodded. "Turned out to be a mere cyst, nothing harmless or cancerous. But eventually I quoted one statistic too much and Haley and Elle booted me out of the room because I was not helping. They both later decided that I actually freaked out in the end. If they only knew... Jess gave me fourth degree over it."

"Fourth?" Aaron looked at Reid pointedly.

"So let me get this straight, Haley had a surgery in a hospital two streets away from Aaron's hospital and all time long you were freaking out that she will learn that he almost ended blown up into tiny pieces?" Reid said swiftly. "The answer was, yeah, kind of, I freaked out big, so sue me. Luckily it were two different hospitals because if it was one I would have gone AWOL and later on MIA."

"You could have said something," Aaron glared at him.

"You were both supposed to be resting, neither of you would if the other knew," Reid shook his head. "And trust me I've got out of it third, fourth and fifth degree, I'm not getting sixth."

"Yet," Aaron muttered. "When Katherine came into the picture?"

"Later," Reid sighed. "Haley and I were talking about the change. The lease on my apartment was slowly coming up and she suggested that instead of renewing it I should try a different neighborhood. So she found my apartment and during the first visit she spotted Kate, actually she turned around because Kate was distracting Haley and I really have no idea what she was thinking but I'm sure that she had great fun at persuading me that by buying a flat I'm investing into my own future, saving the money, spreading roots. Actually she was talking a lot about the gardening; roots, seeds, fruits... Elle caught part of her propaganda and joined the preaching. Kate was kind enough to enlighten me later what they were really _rooting_ for."

"I get the idea," Aaron smiled. "You folded under the pressure."

"Seemingly," Reid shrugged. "Kate was nice and she agreed to go out with me on the world's worst date ever. We had fun just making up reasons why we wouldn't work."

"You did," Aaron said. "At least it looks like it."

"Well between world's worst date ever and the morning after the night before few months went by and I really got a chance to get to know her better," Reid shrugged. "It worked the same way like Elle and I did for a longer while."

"But..." Aaron said.

"There is no but," Reid said simply. "Hadn't be for a very long while, at least it feels like it. All I know that through the duration of over past year I went to hell in a hand-basket, repeatedly and I know that without Kate's overwhelming support I wouldn't have any strength left to crawl my way back."

"Because of Emily," Aaron said quietly.

"Emily was just a part of the equation," Reid grimaced.

"Elle?" Aaron asked.

"On 23rd December 2010 around 6:57 in the morning Elle had an accident in Baltimore. The damage done by the accident was horrific Hotch," Reid said softly. "Elle lost her left leg in the accident, both kidneys, she almost didn't make it from the table but the doctors managed to stabilize her. For over thirty hours it was touch and go and then... then we learned that it was going to be go because Elle started suffering from slow multiorgan failure. She died at 23:47 26th December 2010 after three days and fifteen hours of agony. Agony I saw, agony I would have cut my left arm to spare her..." his voice gone even more softer. "There is also something else you should know. Elle was dying as Greenway but she died as Reid."

Reid became very interested in remains of his coffee.

"And even then you wouldn't come to me?" Aaron asked quietly.

"For what?" Reid snorted softly. "Bereavement leave? I managed with remains of Christmas break. Smoothing law issues? I acknowledged Ella as my daughter seven weeks prior to Elle's death and as her husband I got sole custody, there was nothing to smooth. Sicking one of those bureau's shrinks on me? Thank you I was accompanied by two board-certified psychiatrist for the most of the time. All I only wanted back then was making sure that my daughter was slowly adapting to a new life after a great tragedy and I know that I wouldn't have pulled it off without Kate. What else? Oh, I hid a mental illness, in the end major depressive episode but for a while I was worried about something bigger and more permanent, like a dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenic break. That would majorly suck."

"I'm sorry," Aaron said quietly. "But it's the very reason why you should have come to one of us."

"I went," Reid shrugged.

"And?" Aaron asked.

"She died, except not really," Reid said simply. "I didn't go to Emily with everything, just headaches at first. I thought that it would be the easiest to talk about Elle with her. Unfortunately I didn't take into account revengeful sociopaths," he shrugged. "Nor did I took into account that my alleged best friend decided to become a sociopath that gets a special thrill out of making me question my mental capacities. If I couldn't trust her with my sanity how I was supposed to trust her with my daughters?" Reid stared at Aaron. "What you would tell me if I came to you? If I came to you and told you everything I knew what would I hear the lie or the truth?"

"You chewed off JJ in Durant but when I confronted you later you couldn't look me in the eye," Aaron said quietly. Then the realization dawned on him and he said quickly, "You weren't ashamed, you knew. How long?"

"I had suspicions since we returned from Portland," Reid answered calmly. "Learning that you were doing grief assessments only proved my suspicions and between learning that you were doing them and my own assessment I was in Bathesda for completely different reason but with a very enlightening result."

"Then why you were mad at JJ? And why weren't mad at me?" Aaron asked.

"Because I know you and I know that if I brought to you everything I brought to JJ to you what I wouldn't hear from you would be that grief is affecting my perception, that I'm obsessing and that I'm not thinking straight," Reid said sourly. "I've got ten weeks of it, eight of which I was very much aware how_ much dead_ Emily was and where she was. I gave JJ countless openings for a single sign of confirmation. She made a choice to not answer and I made a choice to not bother with her anymore. Perhaps, if we had more time I would have went to you but with the reassignments I saw no sense in that, maybe one day... after."

"You were still pissed off at her," Aaron said.

"I don't want to sound like a petulant teenager but actions have consequences, Hotch," he added bitterly. "I can forgive a lie, what I cannot forgive, still, is a fucking tug of war with my sanity. You can't stab someone in the back, choke out startled _sorry_ and expect that everything is going to come back to normal because it won't. I don't roll that way and that's why I couldn't be angry at you for what she had done. It's this simple."

"If it was only that simple," Aaron sighed. "I'm not sure," he added pointedly.

"I am," Reid rolled his eyes.

"What happened in Vegas?" Aaron asked.

"On or off the record?" Reid asked. "You read the copy of the reports so the first part you know. Other than that my father bought my step-mother a new Porsche and let her take him on a drive, Lily was with the sitter. The simple explanation is: she is here and they are not. The accident was Kelly's fault she was trying to speed by three cars and collided with a truck, DOA. Lily was with us since then and by then we knew that while we could fit in two kids into two-bedroom apartment, three would be a tight squeeze."

"And you already had a house that was big enough," Aaron nodded.

"Plus two, two-bedroom apartments are way easier to rent than selling one house. They pay the mortgages for themselves and we still have something left to pay part of the mortgage for the house. Elle's apartment in Baltimore was also rented, it's not much itself but between these and self-appointed, fairly cracked in the head godfathers it pays the college-fund for the girls," Reid answered.

"Have they even went to school?" Aaron deadpanned.

"Kindergarten," Reid shrugged. "Haley and Elle are going in the fall. Kate sees no reason in relaying on daycare since she will be staying home full time until the end of March at least and work only part-time until end of August, though I also heard the version about end of September but I wouldn't put it past Nikolai to drag her back to work earlier."

"You can afford having her stay home permanently," Aaron said.

"Financially, yes, I can," Reid nodded. "But that's the only 'ally argument for having her stay at home with the girls. All other allies point to the contrary and aside of a learning curve I also have well-developed sense of self-preservation. Women wanting to work for most of the time is not about financially merriment, it's about the sense of self-worth and feeling that they are more than what they feel they are at home, being more than wife, mother and maid."

Having Reid say that stung like hell but Aaron nodded slowly.

"I know Kate and I know that making her stay at home on long-term basis would have turned against me and because I know her and I know what she is capable of when majorly pissed off I won't end making that mistake," Reid shook his head.

"I heard that Howard is cutting on psychiatric department," Aaron pointed out.

"So did I," Reid shrugged. "But Nikolai will sooner resign himself before he would let any of his doctors go, especially Jess and Kate. Jess has experience and Kate has a potential, plus they happen to be core of his program of how to keep the department unaffected by financial difficulties. Not happening."

"Still," Aaron started.

"Morgan has a motto that says: don't sass a woman who is permitted to carry a gun. My motto says: don't sass a woman who has active AMA credentials in psychiatric medicine in all eastern states and can validate them in other states within one day," Reid said pointedly. "Don't. Argue. I don't."

Aaron nodded before he said, "Mary?"

"With Mary is like with Haley," Reid sighed. "It's almost exactly like with Haley. Kate and Jessie had two older sisters. The oldest, Emerson, Haley's mother and Jessie's older twin, Allison, Mary's, Nora's and Mona's mother. Both were murdered. Emerson by her husband and Haley's father when Haley was two months old and Allison... along with Nora and Mona, in November, by a stalker."

Aaron frowned because he remembered that Reid fled to Chicago on a consult two days after Monica's abduction and seemed to return the most disturbed.

"She lived in Chicago?" he asked.

"Yes," Reid nodded. "It was that case and no, I didn't come in contact with him because if I would he would be dead but he is not. He folded and admitted to committing the murder without me going into that room and threatening to fold him after turning him inside out," he added sourly. "Yes, I know that I could have said something. But seriously? Would you?"

"At the very least if you said something I wouldn't let you come alone," Aaron pointed out.

"Not happening," Reid snorted. "If you made it team's case most probably you would be agent down before we would catch him. You are forgetting that I know team's dynamics and I can hazard pretty strong guess that the agent interviewing Kate about her relationship with Allison would be JJ. When she learned of Allison's, Nora's and Mona's deaths Kate was in no state to compartmentalize for a longer while and because she knew everything I knew, she would have torn JJ into shreds, psychologically for sure and I preferred to not take chances with physically. JJ wouldn't stood a chance against Kate."

"JJ is more than capable to hold her ground with angry and distraught members of the victims families," Aaron said.

"I know that," Reid nodded. "I also know that JJ never had a profiler profiling her from the top of her head to the bottom of her shoes, she was never viciously and cruelly profiled, never had all of her vulnerabilities, her real or alleged mistakes thrown into her face all at the same time."

"Katherine would do that?" Aaron frowned.

"With almost sadistic pleasure," Reid confirmed. "Assuming that JJ would say something that would make Kate feel threatened, feel that her family was threatened..." Reid grimaced. "A mother's instinct is to protect her family and to Kate family doesn't extend only to children, I'm her family and she saw me falling apart because of what JJ had done. If JJ would make her feel threatened, she wouldn't think, she would act and trust me even emotionally disturbed she would have crushed JJ's mental shields in two minutes flat without even moving a finger and JJ wouldn't be able to defend herself."

"Like Eric Miller against in Karl Arnold's case," Aaron nodded.

"Minus compassion," Reid nodded. "I felt sorry for him but Mama's bear compassion turns off when her brood is threatened. What lead to that reference?"

"I've got a memo that he was found dead in his cell, brain aneurism," Aaron shrugged.

"Good for him," Reid shrugged.

"You are going papa bear?" Aaron asked.

"More like papa wolf," Reid said pensively. "Papa bears don't stick around to raise their broth, mama bears do."

"For all your qualms that you are not an alpha male..." Aaron started.

"I'm not," Reid blinked.

"You think that if you will keep blinking you are going to persuade me that parenthood didn't make you grow a backbone?" Aaron rolled his eyes.

"I always had a backbone," Reid said simply.

Aaron smirked.

"It's not funny," Reid muttered.

"It is," Aaron grinned. "Especially since I happen know how exactly you spend your sabbatical."

"I hate you," Reid coughed. "Don't remind me of it."

"I'm proud of you," Aaron smiled. "Transfer, promotion..."

"Suspension," Reid deadpanned. "Lovely end to my days as SSAIC Reid. If you breath a word to anyone what I was doing in Vegas..."

"I won't," Aaron said simply. "It's need to know only."

"And you better remember that," Reid snorted as he glared at Aaron.

"You would be making better impression if you weren't wearing that shirt," Aaron quipped. "Backseat driver."

"At least I never managed to get lost with GPS navigation, map and an expert on geographical profiling in the car," Reid retorted.

"I didn't get lost," Aaron objected.

"How do you call it then?" Reid quipped. "Exploring new roads? Because I call it driving aimlessly around the country."

"Searching for a gas station," Aaron said quickly.

"We passed one on the way back then," Reid shrugged. "Try harder."

"How about next time we will have to look for a route you will be driving and I will be keeping the map?" Aaron offered.

"Does it mean that you are planning to check the efficiency of search and rescue teams in practice?" Reid asked innocently.

"You know that if you will keep it up I might actually persuade Strauss that in order to raise the spirits, retest team dynamics and improve the level of trust in leadership a temporary change of guard would be good idea?" Aaron echoed Reid's innocent demeanor.

"For what if I might ask?" Reid quipped. "How long it will take Morgan to suggest that we should have you drug-tested? Or evaluated for first signs of dementia? Unless you plan to handle the leadership temporarily to Morgan, then he will just freak out, the rest would freak out with him. Dave wouldn't have accepted the step up even if you held him at a gun point. JJ might have experience in leading an office, coordinating units and contacting the locals but I warrant a mutiny within a week, three days if we would get a case. Emily would manage in the field but paperwork would finish her off."

"Which leaves me with?" Aaron said.

"Drug-test," Reid shrugged. "Don't even joke about it."

_I have known sorrow—therefore I  
>May laugh with you, O friend, more merrily<br>Than those who never sorrowed upon earth  
>And know not laughter's worth. <em>

_~Theodosia Garrison_

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><p><em>Feedback is love.<em>

_TBC..._


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